Soulmate

The sixth entry in L.J. Smith's Night World series, in which a hidden society of vampires, witches and shape-shifters exists alongside the human world, Soulmate follows the story of Hannah Snow, who begins to receive threatening notes - written in her own hand - as her seventeenth birthday approaches. As Hannah struggles with the incredible discovery that she is an "Old Soul," someone who was been reincarnated many times, she finds herself drawn into a deadly love triangle with Maya, the mother of all vampires, and Thierry, the first "made" vampire. It's a story that has played itself out countless times, down the generations - and it always ends with Hannah's death. Will this time be any different?

This story of eternal love, show more reincarnation, and the quest for redemption, is probably the most romantic book in the Night World series. It expands upon the "soulmate principle" that informs all of the other books, and fleshes out the foundation mythology that Smith began unfolding in Spellbinder. Here the reader will learn more about witch-twins Maya and Hellewise, the creation of the first vampire, and the birth of the Night World. Here too, the reader will discover a little more about Circle Daybreak, in a highly enjoyable scene that reunites many of the major characters from the first five books. The pre-historic narrative strained my suspension of disbelief a little, but Smith wisely keeps that aspect of her story rather vague.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, this series is something of a guilty pleasure. While perfectly aware of the abundant teen cliches, I nevertheless find myself sucked into Smith's world. Her heroines are usually intelligent, strong-willed girls, and her ideas about tolerance and the need for respect are most welcome. show less

Quick Summary: Hannah Snow's life was so together. Friends, terrific grades, dreams of a career in paleontology. Everything was perfect...until the notes started appearing. Notes in her own handwriting, warning her of the danger that was coming. "Dead Before Seventeen."

The psychiatrist was supposed to help. But what came out of the age regressions were memories of another time, another life. And of a stranger who tore her world apart...a vampire who killed a village in his rage. Until, in the eyes of a dying human girl, he recognized his soulmate.

Now the stranger is back. He has searched for Hannah throughout the years, trying to make amends, waiting for her to be born. Now he is Thierry, the Lord of the Night World -- and nothing in show more heaven or hell will keep him from his soulmate again. But if her destiny is death, can even Theirry's love protect her? (Summary from book jacket)

My reaction:This book is

I've read this book multiple times. I love it. I still enjoy Daughters of Darkness more because I love the characters and the action more, but this one is a great part of the Night World series.

Hannah is an "old soul." Each time Hannah is reborn, she falls in love with a vampire named Thierry, and she keeps getting killed by the mother of all vampires, Maya, for it... but she keeps popping up again. Like daisies! : ) It's fascinating to follow Hannah as she pieces together her past lives and history with Thierry. What really makes me love this book is the tenderness of Thierry and Hannah's love. Thierry loves Hannah so much that he searches for her for decades, until he finds her most recent incarnation.

While re-reading Soulmate, I couldn't stop comparing it to the more recently released "old soul" novel, Evermore. If you've read both books, you will see that they are very similar. Eerily similar. I enjoyed reading Evermore, although after re-reading Soulmate, I still feel that Soulmate succeeded in creating a great love story, while Evermore fell short. I gave Evermore a fairly high rating, initially, but now I feel I gave it too much credit. I feel I may be too easy on books, sometimes, as I posted before. I now feel Evermore should receive a 3/5. If you enjoyed Evermore, please read Soulmate. It may be an older book, but I feel it will leave it's readers wanting more, and will answer their questions regarding the plot (which Evermore did... in a half-a**ed way, at the last minute). The plot and the facts of the story will be more consistent, and the characters are so much more lovable and realistic.

Hannah and Thierry's love feels so much more realistic than that of the characters in Evermore, which had me wondering where the substance of it was. Damen and Ever's entire relationship seemed based upon lies. Thierry and Hannah (Soulmate) have a history -- and history that spans over a thousand years. Their history, and their interactions, make their relationship, as a couple, more realistic to me.

My only complaint about the characters in Soulmate is that Hannah is so sweet, she's like sleeping beauty, reincarnated... or Sandra Dee... but then, if you consider the fact that she's an old soul, her "perfection" makes more sense. One could say that Hannah has had a lot more tries than the rest of us.

Who I would recommend this book to:
Lovers of paranormal romance, YA fiction, vampires, or Twilight. Anyone who is twelve or older... or any precocious readers!

Worth buying? Yes. I have my own copy!

Quotes from the book:

"I told you. You don't love someone because of their looks or their clothes or their car. You love them because they sing a song only your heart can understand." show less

Soulmate is the sixth entry in LJ Smith's ambitious Night World series, which consists of nine books with an overarching story. Only at the end of this volume do the major themes of the series really begin to get underway. Unfortunately, the necessary development of these detracts from what, already, is only a mildly successful paranormal romance.Sixteen-year-old Hannah Snow has been missing time. After these gaps in her memory, she finds notes--from herself, to herself--warning her that she's destined to be dead by seventeen. She visits a psychologist to explore these events further; when he puts her under hypnosis, she flashes back to an earlier, pre-historic life. Meanwhile, a coterie of vampires she's met before seem to be chasing show more her--including Thierry, Lord of the Night World, who claims to be her soulmate.All of this, particularly the flashbacks, are mildly entertaining; unfortunately, the character development in Soulmate is terrifically lacking. Hannah's counselor Paul stands out as being completely unconvincing as a character and a mental health professional, but even Hannah and Thierry themselves aren't major improvements. Both are flat characters, completely bland were it not for their situation. Villain Maya fares a little better than the rest, as her sinister intentions mean that she actually seems to have both motivations and desires, something lacking in the rest of the cast.What's more, the novel's climax and denouement is muddled as Smith tries to explain Circle Daybreak, the coming apocalypse, and "the soulmate principle." Throughout the series, I've found the requisite discussions of this principle to be didactic--they almost always are composed of stiff, affectless dialogue that feels oddly juxtaposed to the supposedly passionate subject matter. It's too bad that Smith chose to sink a good handful of chapters in this volume into exploring this further. Hopefully, in the next three volumes, there will be a little less (dry, stiff, and humorless) talk, and a little more action. show less

This story wasn't at all what I expected it to be. I felt as topsy turvy as the main character, who was who? What could be trusted? Who was good and who was doing evil? I loved it!

I love this book and all of its Night World counterparts! Cute love story with a touch of horror. Recommend strongly to those who love the vampire genre.

This was pretty bad. The whole book is spent telling background story, and then the wrap-up is too quick.